Incontinence Therapy can restore endurance, and confidence

Do you have a small amount of urinary leakage when you cough or sneeze? Do you have a really strong urge to go to the restroom when you get home and put your key in the door? Do you wonder where you will be in 5 years with this condition?
There is a solution! Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy addresses incontinence by addressing how the muscles in the pelvic floor work, just like physical therapy addresses muscles that don’t work in your knee or shoulder. Comstock Physical Therapist has two female therapists who already treat this condition, Joyce Mills MPT, OCS and Linnea Comstock PT OCS MPA. This month we are adding a third therapist, Lori Waterman PT, DPT, OCS who specializes in this, too.
“What is the physical therapy treatment like for this condition,” you may wonder. If you have leakage, from weakness, such as coughing, sneezing, the physical therapist will check the muscles for movement and strength in a private room. This is usually done with a biofeedback unit that reads the muscle activity, telling the therapist how much strength and endurance the muscle has (or doesn’t have). After your strength and endurance baseline is established, the therapist will set you up on an exercise program and will have you come back for weekly updates to progress your strength and endurance.
A different problem happens when you don’t leak when cough or sneeze but you have leakage when you get home and put your key in the door, you have urge incontinence. Urge incontinence is fixed by retraining your bladder to hold until later. Physical therapy can help you fix this too, by teaching you the tools to retrain your bladder.
Sometimes you can have “mixed incontinence” which is having BOTH conditions, physical therapy can help both together.
The good news is with some work and effort, THIS CAN BE HELPED!